Paint recommendations

[abinoone]

Hello,
I had a problem with blistering on my hull this spring due to improper shrink wrapping, so I'm about to have my Bristol 32 repainted. I'd be interested in knowing what recommendations people may have about what type of paint to use. The shop doing the work suggested either auto paint, which produces a nice gloss finish, or Awlgrip. I'm inclined to go with Awlgrip but invite opinions. Also, the shop is planning to prep the hull and apply two coats of primer and one finish coat. Is this appropriate? Any other recommendations?

Thank you!
Abinoone

 

[Pirate Dave]

Find a different shop. If they are suggesting auto paint they are beyond amateur hour. Awl grip or Perfection. Awlgrip is a bit tricky to use and the auto paint comment has me seeing a huge mess if they awlgripped it

 

[abinoone]

I hear you but they actually do pretty good work on boats. I've seen a number of good results of their work.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

I have read that Imron and Awlcraft 2000 are both similar to auto paint chemically (polyurethane). However, I would suggest you go with marine paint rather than auto paint. I don't know what is different about the formulations (if anything) but a big part of the cost is labor, so why be a pioneer? (Pioneers catch all the arrows.)

 

[Chris Patterson]

Go with the Awlgrip, man. I have never seen anyone disappointed with it.

It does take special care and equipment to shoot it, although the fumes will kill you. Other than that, it’s good stuff.

(Important safety tip).

 

[Sailnobroblem]

Go with awlgrip. There's a boat yard that I've dealt with that actually rolled with a foam roller awlgrip on a 23-footer and instead of tipping with a brush he rolled again with a clean foam roller. The results were fantastic, looked like it was sprayed on.
By the way he went through a lot of foam rollers.

 

[Justin_NSA]

Just curious. How does one improperly shrink wrap a boat? Are they sharing in the cost of repair?
From what I've always read here, Awlgrip is preferred.

 

[abinoone]

Never had my boat shrink wrapped before, but they did it when it was wet, were too aggressive with the heat gun, and didn't provide any ventilation. I've since learned that one should never shrink wrap painted boats - you're just asking for trouble. And yes, the yard did offer some compensation.

 

[shemandr]

When I had my Ranger painted the yard favored Imron citing the difficulty in repairing Awlgrip. They didn't tell me the Imron scratches easily (Which may be a flaw in the way it was applied). I sold the boat and never got to pursue that issue with Imron.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

I've worked with both- Awlgrip and Imron. I prefer Imron

 

[Brian S]

Andy at Boatworkstoday is a big fan of Alexseal paint. Application seems very forgiving. If I were doing my own boat, I'd probably roll with Alexseal based on this ease of application. BoatworksToday

 

[jmce1587]

+1 on the Awlgrip - had my 1984 H31 completely repainted about 6 years ago with Awlgrip. Still looks as good as the day it was painted. I do a yearly wax of the hull. Before and after pics are too large to post. send me an IM with contact details and I can forward along if interested.

 

[Capt jgw]

There are pros and cons to both marine and auto paints. Awlgrip has a harder surface but can't be buffed out of you do scratch it. Imron can be touched up or buffed and is easier therefore cheaper to apply. Alexseal is pretty new, at least I hadn't heard of it before, so we don't have a track record. Looks good up front though.
One consideration for auto paint, we don't deliberately park our cars up against solid objects with nothing but a rubber fender in-between, so auto paint is not intended to cope with that.

 

[SEMPERAVANTI41]

Had my 41 painted with Alexseal 4 years ago. Still looks great. Would use it again if needed.

 

[SEMPERAVANTI41]

Picture of boat after painting attached.

 

[Brian S]

Picture of boat after painting attached.

Wow! Looks great!